Auxiliary equipment maker Sterling Systems, which makes air-blown resin conveying systems, air separation systems for recycling and extrusion downstream equipment, is investing $2.5 million to build a 60,000-square-foot factory.
Sterling Systems' current building in Forest, Va., has 35,000 square feet of space.
The new building should be completed by July. The company bought 19 acres of land at the Lake Vista Corporate Centre in Forest, which will house Sterling Systems and a sister company, TruCut Fabricators.
TruCut, which will relocate to Forest from Lynchburg, Va., fabricates sheet metal for Sterling Systems, according to Darrell Childress, Sterling's marketing manager.
Both companies are divisions of the 100-year-old Sterling Blower Co. David Snowman, who bought Sterling Blower in 1981, moved it from Connecticut to Virginia in 1988.
The expansion will help the company develop new products. Childress said Sterling Systems has seen a significant sales increase over the past two years. Sales are about $7 million, he said.
The companies expect to add 25-30 employees in the next three years. Currently, Childress said they employ 60 — 40 at Sterling Systems and 20 at TruCut.
Sterling Systems is not affiliated with Milwaukee-based Sterling Inc., which makes chillers, granulators and temperature controllers.